Door-latch.



S. ZAGSEK.

noon LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16,1910. 1,026,233., I Patented May 14, 1912.

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COLUMBIA PLANOG IAPN C0..WA$IUNOTON, n. C

STEFAN ZACSEK, 0]? LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

DOOR-LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1912.

Application filed May 16, 1910. Serial No. 561,758.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, STEFAN ZAosnK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles, State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Door-Latches, of which the following is a specification.

An object of this invention is to provide superior means for fastening the thumb piece in the escutcheon plate and also to provide a spring to hold the thumb piece in latched position at all times, except when operated for the purpose of unlatching the latch.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation on line m 00 Fig. 2, of a door latch constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the inside of the door escutcheon with the thumb piece and the fastener in place. Fig. 3 is a view of the thumb piece fastener and spring detached. Fig. 1- is a magnified fragmental sectional elevation on line as, w Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the thumb piece.

The escutcheon plate 1 corresponds to the usual escutcheon plate, being provided with the lock cylinder orifice 2, the thumb piece orifice 3, the handle bolt or stud orifices 4 and 5, and screw holes 6 through which screws, not shown, are inserted to fasten the plate to the door. The handle 7 is also of common construction, being provided with two studs or bolts 8 and 9 to insert through the holes 4 5, and secured in place by nuts 10 and 11. The thumb piece 12 is also of usual construction, excepting that it is provided close to the escutcheon shoulder 13 with a retaining seat constituted by a transverse slot-like notch 14, which may be formed by a saw kerf on the under side of the inner arm 15; said seat being spaced apart from the escutcheon shoulder 13 a distance practically equal to the thickness of the plate 1 to accommodate such plate between the shoulder and the notch.

A retainer 16, which may be a strip of some suitable metal, as spring steel, is provided at the lower end with a recess 17 to receive the upper stud 8 of the handle, and is provided at the other end with an edge 18 which fits in the seat 1 1. The strip is of such length between the edge 18 and the stud hole 17, that when the edge 18 is inserted into the slot, the recess 17 and the upper bolt hole 1 will register so that the upper stud 8 of the handle may be inserted through the two stud holes, and the nut 10 screwed onto the stud 8 will hold the strip in place. The strip thus becomes a combined retainer and fulcrum to hold the thumb piece in the escutcheon plate, and to pivotally support the thumb piece. The strip is extended to form side bars 19 which may be bent inwardly from the escutcheon plate and downwardly and connected by a top bar 20 adapted to engage the top of the thumb piece arm and yieldingly hold it depressed, thus normally holding the thumb plate 21 of the thumb piece up. The handle is shouldered as shown at 22, 23, so that it can be rigidly secured by tightening the fastening means, as the nuts 10, 11 on the studs 8, 9, and finishing washers 24, 25 may be applied in the usual manner to support said shoulders against the thrust of the fastening means.

In practice the retainer 16 will be stamped and bent and tempered to provide a spring of the resiliency required.

The method of assembling and using the improvement will be understood from the foregoing description.

I claim 1. A door latch comprising a plate provided with a stud hole and with a hole for the arm of a thumb piece, a handle provided with a stud in the stud hole, a thumb piece provided with a shoulder on one side of the plate and with a transverse notch on the other side of the plate, and a strip having an edge inserted. in the notch and also having a hole to receive the stud, and means for fas toning the strip on the stud.

2. The combination with an escutcheon plate, of a thumb piece extending through the plate and having a shoulder at one side of the plate and also having a transverse notch in its under side on the other side of the plate, and a strip fastened to the plate and provided with an edge inserted in said notch.

3. The combination with an escutcheon plate, of a thumb piece provided with a shoulder on one side of said plate and with an arm extending from the shoulder through the plate and a retainer fixed to the plate and extending into the underside of the arm to form a fulcrum for the arm on the inner side of the plate.

4:. The combination with an escutcheon plate of a thumb piece having a shoulder outside the plate and an arm provided with a transverse slot and extending from the shoulder through the plate, and a strip fastened to the plate and having an edge in- I serted into the slot and being provided with a spring portion to depress the arm. I

5. In a door latch, the combination with an escutcheon plate, of a thumb piece provided with a shoulder on one side of the plate and with an arm extending through the plate and provided with a slot on the other side of the plate from the shoulder, a strip provided with an edge inserted in the slot and with side extensions bent to form a spring todepress the arm of the thumb piece, and a bolt and nut to secure the strip to the escutcheon plate.

6. The combination with an escutcheon plate, of a thumb piece provided with a shoulder on one side of the escutcheon plate and with an arm which extends from said shoulder through the escutcheon plate and is provided in its under side at the other side of the escutcheon plate from the shoulder with a notch forming a seat; and a re- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,"

tainer fixed to the plate and inserted in said seat.-

7 The combination with an escutcheon plate, of a thumb piece provided with a shoulder on one side of the escutcheon plate and with an arm extending through said plate, said arm being provided with a seat, a retainer in the seat and provided with a spring portion to depress the arm, a handle provided with a stud extending through the In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles California this 3d day of May, 1910.

STEFAN ZACSEK.

In presence of- JAMES R. TOWNSEND, L. BELLE RICE.

Washington, D. 0. 

